Meeting Recap - January 3, 2017

Jason Slama opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Nils Friberg gave the invocation.

 

Todd Kruse announced a Chamber lunch seminar on mental health in the workplace.  The seminar is a collaboration between NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and the Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce.  For more information or to register, click here.

 

Nils Friberg presented Jeff Benson with his Paul Harris Fellow +6, signifying more than $7,000 in contributions to the Rotary Foundation.  Jeff said that the Rotary Foundation offers the "Best Bang for the Buck" for his charitable giving and he knows that Rotary distributes money in ways that he agrees with.  Nil and Jeff are shown below.

 

 

Cor's father passed away recently.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Cor and her family.

 

Gerry reminded us of the NBMV Rotary Holiday Party at Beverly Aplikowski's home on January 13th, 6-11PM.  If you have not registered or declined, please contact Gerry (gerry.tietz@comcast.net or 651-324-6761) ASAP so he can get a firm head count for ordering food.  If you are coming, don't forget a White Elephant for the exchange.  Please DON'T bring hors d'oeuvres, as there will be plenty of food.

 

Gerry also reminded us that the District 5960 Mid-Term/Summit meeting will be held at Hamline University on Saturday, January 14th, 8:45AM-2:30PM.  All Rotarians are encouraged to attend, particularly Club Presidents, Presidents-Elect and Board Members, Assistant Governors, and District Leadership.  For registration and other information, click here.

 

Cindy Carlson said that the Gold Plate Dinner planning committee will meet on Tuesday, January 10th, 11:30AM at the Exchange.

 

Our speaker was Mark Lampman, speaking about viral diseases.  Many people don't know that Mark has a degree in microbiology, so disease processes are a lifelong interest.  The list of diseases caused by viruses is extremely long, including:   Hepatitis A, B And C, Herpes, German Measles, Influenza, Rabies, Common Cold, Mumps, AIDS/HIV, Mononucleosis, Meningitis and Polio, among many others. 

 

Of course Polio is of great interest for Rotarians as we continue the fight to eradicate it completely.  Rotary has partnered with the World Health Organization, Centers for disease Control, Unicef, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to put an end to Polio, once and for all.  According to Mark, it may take up to 15 billion dollars to accomplish the goal, but Polio's days are numbered.

 

The viral diseases listed above show that Polio is certainly not the only major health threat caused by viral infection, and new viruses are being identified each year.  Other threats include the mutation of viruses to more virulent strains and re-emergence of previously conquered viruses because of indifference or unfounded fears about side effects of vaccinations. 

 

So what can we do?  The old advice is still the best...wash your hands frequently with soap and water.  Antibacterial soaps and gels are no more effective than soap and water and, in fact, The Mayo Clinic recommends against the routine use of these products because they can lead to development of resistant strains.  Mark also recommended using masks when you are sick or caring for sick people.  He even handed out some masks to help keep us aging Rotarians healthy this winter!   Mark is shown (masked) below.